Graduate

PhD Program

Policies for Extra Credit and Courses

Language Courses. PhD students are permitted to take an
undergraduate language course (100 level or 200 level) at the University
of Rochester to help them prepare for the Language Exam. This course
will not be a part of the program of study, but will, once approved, be
covered by tuition scholarship. To request the use of tuition
scholarship for these language preparation courses, you must submit an
Add/Drop form to the Graduate Studies Office (because these are
undergraduate courses, you cannot register for them on-line) with an
explanation that these courses will be used for preparation for the
Language Exam. This will allow you to enroll in the undergraduate course
without having to pay for the credit. These credits will be in addition
to the graduate credits allowed (90 total graduate credits) and
required (60 graduate course credits for English).

This also applies to summer undergraduate language course offerings.

Remember that your dissertation in any particular language
course is always at the discretion of the instructor or (in Modern
Language and Cultures) the faculty assigned to sort through your level
of language proficiency.

Bridging Courses. If you and your advisor agree that a 100-level
undergraduate course outside of the English Department is necessary to
support your graduate program of study, please forward a short rationale
to the Director of Graduate Studies in English (with your advisor’s
email or paper mail signature); the Director will apply to the Arts,
Sciences and Engineering Dean of Graduate Studies for “Bridging Course”
approval. This will allow you to enroll in the undergraduate course
without having to pay for the credit. These credits will be in addition
to the graduate credits allowed (90 total graduate credits) and required
(60 graduate course credits for English).

This also applies to summer undergraduate course offerings.

Please remember that a Bridging Course is specifically for another
department’s undergraduate offerings at the 100 level when you would
not qualify to enroll in that department’s graduate courses.

This is likely to be a very unusual request, given the nature of
graduate study in English, but might be attractive to a small number of
students whose dissertation work in English requires instruction outside
of the humanities (for instance, introductory computer expertise for a
digital humanities emphasis in our department).

Total Number of Course Credits. 60 graduate course credits is the
minimum required by English but not the maximum. What does this mean in
practice? You may take courses beyond the usual 60 graduate course
credits required by English (and Cindy will explain how you swap them
out for some of the 30 research credits that generally kick in after you
complete your regular course taking; your program of study typically
lists 60 course credits and 30 research credits).

Bottom line: You and your advisor should decide what is best for
your program of study; the added paperwork is our problem (the dean’s
office, the department office) and should not affect your
decision-making.

This also means that you are allowed to continue to take courses,
if you and your dissertation director think it makes sense, after you
have completed the Qualifying Exams. This is not an option that everyone
will find attractive, and, yes, for some it could turn into a
distraction from dissertation writing. But you and your advisor know
best what is in your intellectual interests. For instance, if there is a
course from time to time that is particularly relevant to your
developing dissertation emphases, that wasn’t offered during your first
few years of graduate study, or that is offered by a newly hired or
visiting faculty member, you might keep this option in mind.

Exceeding the 90 Total Credits. You may petition to receive tuition
scholarship beyond 90 credits. This would tend to happen fairly late in
your graduate career, during your dissertation writing, if you want to
enroll in a graduate course after using up your 90 total credits. In
some departments, this also occurs when students opt for an internship;
that doesn’t seem likely in our case. You and your advisor will need to
submit a short rationale to the Director of Graduate Studies who will
then forward a request to the Arts, Sciences and Engineering Dean of
Graduate Studies. This request for additional tuition scholarship
typically will be approved if the additional course credits will enhance
your current program of study. Tuition scholarship for these additional
course credits will not be approved if you are using those credits to
obtain an additional degree.

Exceeding the 16-credit per Semester Cap. You may request
permission from the Dean to enroll in more than 16 credits per semester.
If approved, you will not incur additional fees for these additional
credits. I caution that, as you know, graduate seminars are quite
demanding in their reading and semester-end papers. In most cases, the
16-credit cap is quite reasonable. But, again, you and your advisor are
best able to assess what makes sense from semester to semester. You also
should keep in mind that 16 credits is already an overload for students
who are teaching; the dean is aware that teaching requires a
significant time commitment and is not likely to approve more than 16
credits for a student who is teaching.

Please remember that we are adhering to rules long in place in our
department’s Graduate Handbook. We expect you to complete the Language
Exam no later than the end of your second year of study and the
Qualifying Exam no later than the end of your third year of study. The
course taking options outlined above should not interfere with this
schedule. You and your advisor simply have even greater flexibility to
craft throughout your years as a graduate student the program of study
that serves you best.